Complex electronic circuits generally require extensive testing to ensure reliability and quality. This testing often involves measuring electrical parameters at selected points on the circuit board while the circuit is in operation. Modern circuit boards are often multilayered and have components and signal connections on both sides of the board so that it is necessary to have access to both sides in order to complete the testing. Because space is generally limited when circuit boards are mounted in a carrier or mounting device in the final product, it is often difficult to obtain access to the points on the circuit board necessary to complete testing. Consequently, during testing operations, circuit boards are often mounted in special test fixtures. The board can be inserted into such a fixture and temporarily held in place while power and ground are applied to the board so that the selected electrical parameters can be measured when the board is in its actual operational state.
In some cases, it is necessary for several boards to be tested simultaneously because the electronic circuits on each board interact with circuits on the other boards and the boards must be electrically connected together during the test procedure in order to fully test each board. Circuit boards are normally electrically connected to the remainder of the circuitry by means of connectors which establish multiple simultaneous connections. In the case of complex boards, such as mother boards, connections of the board to its normal mounting arrangement may be accomplished by several multiple connector pairs which together require a significant amount of force to mate and unmate.
Consequently, it is desirable to provide a test fixture in which multiple circuit boards can be inserted and electrically connected together during testing.
It is further desirable to provide a test fixture in which multiple circuit boards can be connected with an interconnect mechanism which can be quickly connected and released without requiring time-consuming alignment of the connector portions.